Web-booking code irks France

France is attempting to water down a code of conduct proposed last year by the European Commission for online travel booking systems.

The move was allegedly made on behalf of national carrier Air France, which owns a stake in Amadeus, Europe’s dominant computerised reservation system (CRS). Iberia and Lufthansa also hold stakes in Amadeus, which competes with US-based systems Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan.

The code was designed to ensure that airlines with a stake in the CRS market distribute data fairly among the four major systems, which are used by travel agents to pull up data on flights and fares. Application of the code of conduct would be triggered by ownership and control thresholds bundled in the legal definition of ‘parent carrier’.

According to a document drafted after a meeting of national officials on 21 January, France attempted to scrap rules on ‘parent carriers’ contained in article 10 of the Commission’s proposals. The move was blocked by Denmark, Sweden, Poland and the UK, which are presumed to have acted in the interests of airlines SAS, LOT and BA.

"France was quite isolated in its request. A number of member states wanted to keep it," said an EU diplomat. "We think it’s necessary to avoid a dominant position of a parent carrier. The objective is necessary."

Amadeus has in the past argued that rules are no longer needed, since many airlines now have their own systems for ticket distribution. Tomas Lopez Fernebrand, vice-president and general counsel of Amadeus, said: "Amadeus was interested in getting it removed. It seems the Commission took a different view and that a number of stakeholders felt more comfortable with keeping it."

Amadeus is concerned about restrictions on the distribution of sales data imposed by the Commission. Such information is considered a valuable element of the service that CRSs provide to airline clients. "Whereas the rest of the Commission’s proposal is consistent with the objective of simplifying the regulatory framework, this added restriction is a blatant misunderstanding," said Lopez.

"Not only will this reduce market transparency and harm consumers, but the provision will be ineffective, as the very data that is being prohibited will still be available through other sources, notably IATA."

UK centre-right MEP Timothy Kirkhope has been selected to draft the European Parliament’s report on the matter.

France is attempting to water down a code of conduct proposed last year by the European Commission for online travel booking systems.

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